"There are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate
- when he can't afford it and when he can."

- Mark Twain

Stingy Links

In praise of inflation
"In times when people are reluctant to take risks, a little
inflation can help grease the skids. In doing this, though, inflation
helps debtors and spenders at the expense of creditors and
savers. It’s easy to see why this makes us uncomfortable. It seems
to reward those who have behaved recklessly, and to punish those
who played by the rules, saving their money and living frugally.
But the economy doesn’t exist, in the end, to reward virtue and
punish vice. It exists to maximize our well-being, and,
currently, doing that may require helping the undeserving and
irresponsible, if only because there are so many of them. Boosting
inflation isn’t the right policy, but it may just be the correct one."

The 10 Biggest Gold Myths
"Gold has been the investment phenomenon of the past decade. It
hit a new high of 1,278 an ounce this week. In the past 10 years,
investors in gold have made nearly five times their money. Over
the same time, Wall Street has gone sideways. But few
investments seem to attract more myths and hokum than gold and other
precious metals. At the risk of inflaming those on both sides of the
issue, here are 10."

The Bond Bubble
"If anybody is to blame for a bond bubble, it isn't Joe Schmo
it's Uncle Sam, with some help from overseas.'The Fed has
effectively been taxing money-market funds by cutting short-term interest
rates to recapitalize the financial system and to make things
easier on borrowers,' says Dan Dektar, chief investment officer
at Smith Breeden Associates."

What is the Carry Trade
"For the next 20 years, and many hedge funds specialized in the
‘carry trade’, which was as simple as it was successful: lend
capital to high interest rate currencies, enjoy the high riskless
rates and currency appreciation on the spot rate borrow capital
at the low interest rate currency, and make money on the
depreciation of this debt over time. In 2008 these strategies suffered
significantly, but the net effect is still there is no clear
relation between risk and return in currencies."

China Metal Monopoly
"A generation after Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping made mastering
neodymium and 16 other elements known as rare earths a priority,
China dominates the market, with far-reaching effects ranging
from global trade friction to U.S. job losses and threats to
national security."

The Rothery Report provides research on select deep-value stocks in
North America. Discover overlooked and undervalued stocks in quarterly
investment reports which provide detailed analysis of Canadian and
U.S. stocks. Weekly email news and additional updates keep
subscribers informed about new opportunities and developments.

The Graham Value Stocks letter is designed for investors who want to
keep up with our sensational stock selection methods inspired by
Benjamin Graham. We comb through mountains of data to highlight
U.S. and Canadian stocks that we believe to be both cheap and
relatively safe.

Disclaimers: Consult with a qualified investment advisor before
trading. Past performance is a poor indicator of future performance.
The information on this site, and in its related newsletters, is not
intended to be, nor does it constitute, investment advice or
recommendations. The information on this site is in no way guaranteed
for completeness, accuracy or in any other way. More...